Custom layout for titles

\markup commands in the \header block are useful for simple text formatting, but they do not allow precise control over the placement of titles. To customize the placement of the text fields, change either or both of the following \paper variables:

• bookTitleMarkup
• scoreTitleMarkup

See Default layout of bookpart and score titles for the placement of titles when using the default values of these \markup variables.

The default setting for scoreTitleMarkup defined in ly/titling-init.ly is as follows.

scoreTitleMarkup = \markup \column {
  \if \should-print-all-headers { \bookTitleMarkup \hspace #1 }
  \fill-line {
    \fromproperty #'header:piece
    \fromproperty #'header:opus
  }
}

This places the piece and opus text fields at opposite ends of the same line.

\score {
  \header {
    piece = "PRAELUDIUM I"
    opus = "BWV 846"
  }
  { s1 }
}

The next example redefines scoreTitleMarkup so that the piece text field is centered, using a large, bold font.

\book {
  \paper {
    indent = 0\mm
    scoreTitleMarkup = \markup {
      \fill-line {
        \null
        \fontsize #4 \bold \fromproperty #'header:piece
        \fromproperty #'header:opus
      }
    }
  }
  \header { tagline = ##f }
  \score {
    \header {
      piece = "PRAELUDIUM I"
      opus = "BWV 846"
    }
    { s1 }
  }
}

Text fields not normally effective in score \header blocks can be printed in the score title area if print-all-headers is placed inside the \paper block. A disadvantage of using this method is that text fields intended specifically for the bookpart title area need to be manually suppressed in every \score block. See Titles explained.

To avoid this, add the desired text field to the scoreTitleMarkup definition. In the following example, the composer text field (normally associated with bookTitleMarkup) is added to scoreTitleMarkup, allowing each score to list a different composer.

\book {
  \paper {
    indent = 0\mm
    scoreTitleMarkup = \markup {
      \fill-line {
        \null
        \fontsize #4 \bold \fromproperty #'header:piece
        \fromproperty #'header:composer
      }
    }
  }
  \header { tagline = ##f }
  \score {
    \header {
      piece = "MENUET"
      composer = "Christian Petzold"
    }
    { s1 }
  }
  \score {
    \header {
      piece = "RONDEAU"
      composer = "François Couperin"
    }
    { s1 }
  }
}

It is also possible to create your own custom text fields and refer to them in the markup definition.

\book {
  \paper {
    indent = 0\mm
    scoreTitleMarkup = \markup {
      \fill-line {
        \null
        \override #`(direction . ,UP)
        \dir-column {
          \center-align \fontsize #-1 \bold
            \fromproperty #'header:mycustomtext %% User-defined field
          \center-align \fontsize #4 \bold
            \fromproperty #'header:piece
        }
        \fromproperty #'header:opus
      }
    }
  }
  \header { tagline = ##f }
  \score {
    \header {
      piece = "FUGA I"
      mycustomtext = "A 4 VOCI" %% User-defined field
      opus = "BWV 846"
    }
    { s1 }
  }
}

See also

Notation Reference: Titles explained.